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The concept of “skincare fasts” is trending. The idea is to take periodic breaks from certain skin care products to allow the skin to heal and reset itself. Many people are puzzled by this
concept. Aren’t skincare products supposed to improve the health of the skin? In fact, many skincare products are designed to damage and irritate the skin to stimulate it to regrow and look fresh and young. Daily applications of these products can impair the skin’s integrity.
Not all skincare products
During a skincare fast, do not abstain from using gentle cleansers, moisturizers and natural sunscreens. If you use an acne control agent regularly, talk to a skincare professional about whether you should include it in skincare fasts; the goal of a skincare fast is to make your skin healthier. Massive breakouts of blackheads and pimples are not part of the plan.
You will have to carefully read the ingredients of your skincare products to identify the ones that can damage and irritate the skin. Products to include in your skincare fast include:
• Physical exfoliating agents, such as
microbeads and crushed apricot shells.
• Chemical exfoliating agents, such
as salicylic acid, glycolic acid, citric
acid, malic acid and fruit enzymes
(papain and bromelain). Sometimes
these acids will be listed as AHA
(alpha hydroxy acids) or BHA (beta
hydroxy acids).
• Retinoids and retinoic acid products.
• Vitamin C, also called ascorbic acid.
Although hyaluronic acid has the word “acid” in its name, it does not irritate or damage the skin; it just helps moisturize the skin from within and can and should be used daily.
Reset
Once you have isolated all of your potentially skin-irritating skincare products, the next step is to start out with a reset period. On average, it takes about a month for the skin to
renew itself, so plan on a complete fast from any irritating skincare products for one month.
Four-day plan
After resetting, you will reintroduce your skin-irritating skincare products on an intermittent use schedule. You may have to engage in some trial and error to see what plan works best for your skin type, but most people find that following the four-day cycle first proposed by Dr. Bowe produces the best-looking skin:
DAY ONE: clean, exfoliate, apply
a vitamin C product and then
moisturize
DAY TWO: clean, apply a retinoid
product and then moisturize
DAYS THREE AND FOUR: abstain
from all potentially skin-irritating skin
products, but do clean and moisturize
This schedule usually produces a glowing, luminous complexion. Many people have discovered that allowing the skin time to recover after applying certain skincare products
produces much better results than daily use of these products.
